2014-05 5enses

Celebrating art and science in Greater Prescott

Alan Dean Foster

plays against the gallery P. 12

Ty Fitzmorris

won't let nature flutter by P. 16

Jimmy Polinori is in the kitchen with mom P. 11

Gene Twaronite mentions the unmentionable P. 25

And much 2 more!

THE GRIND Rick Hartner bridges passion & practicality

MAY 2014 | VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5 | 5ensesMag.Com

5enses In which:

Steve Burk

4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13

goes on a fishing expedition to crown one of Prescott’s yearround fisher kings.

Ruby Jackson

toasts to holidays, watering holes, circles, true tall tales, amazing races, and 150th birthdays.

Robert Blood

discusses brews, brew-ha-has, and the business of brewing wirh Eric Marichal.

Fred Leonard

monopolizes the conversation about an everything-or-nothing approach to cabal commerce.

Heather Houk

corners the Prescott Farmers Market and serves up an appetizing history course in honor of its 2014 season.

16 18 19 21 22 24 25

Ty Fitzmorris

springs into the first flowering season of the year and catalogs the ecological significance of fire.

Helen Stephenson

takes in some festive, picturesque sights in Sedona catered by budding and blossoming film auteurs.

Matt Dean

spies a behemoth dirigible crafted for a bomber-to-bummer scenario from yesteryear.

Lauren Antrosiglio

pumps you up with a plethora of supplemental protein prescriptions and proscriptions.

Mike Vax

laments a lack of feedback and tries to instigate a conversation about the value and values of music.

Jimmy Polinori

Paolo Chlebecek

Alan Dean Foster

Gene Twaronite

shares the secret of his success, both in the kitchen and in life.

(Hint: Mom’s the word.)

appreciates an art lover whose unpretentious aesthetic won him four decades with lost treasures.

Jill Craig

May 2014 • Volume 2, Issue 5

Copyright © 2014 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Publisher & Editor: Nicholas DeMarino Creative Director: Jimmy Polinori Copy Editor: Susan Smart Read a new 5enses the first weekend of every month.

Visit 5ensesMag.Com, Facebook, & Twitter for more.

Contact us at 5ensesMag@Gmail.Com & 928-613-2076.

Plus

5/6 8 20 26

Flip Photo

A visual puzzle by the Highlands Center for Natural History

Left Brain/Right Brain Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

Oddly Enough

Comics by Russell Miller

Spot-on Spotlights

Prescott’s premier happenings and happenstances

The crepuscular sun creates a silhouette against a custom sculpture by Rick Hartner. Courtesy photo.

See Jill Craig’s story on Page 13 for more.

broadcasts a TV tech transmission that doesn’t require a tinfoil hat for optimal reception.

passes the time by letting loose thoughts on an essential bodily function, naturally.

discusses studio space, creativity, and commissioned pieces with metal sculpture artist Rick Hartner.

COVER: Rick Hartner uses a plasma cutter to pluck metallic wings from what once was the side of a dryer.

Photo by 5enses. Design by Jimmy Polinori.

�ENSESMAG.COM • MAY ���� • CONTENTS • �

LOCALLY & INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED

Bird of the Month METHOD COFFEE

3180 WILLOW CREEK • 777-1067

A Great Blue Heron plucks a live morsel from the water.

Such birds are in Prescott all year at Watson, Willow, Goldwater, and Lynx lakes.

Photo by Gareth Rasberry, Creative Commons 3.0.

The Great Blue Heron

By Steve Burk

Take Highlands Center for Natural History Nestled in the Lynx Lake Recreation Area, two minutes from Costco, The Highlands Center for Natural History invites you to explore the wonder of the Central Arizona Highlands.

• Free Naturalist-led walks, Saturdays 10 AM • Year-round kids’ camps and family programs • Native Plant and Outdoor-Art Festival May 3/4 • Migratory Bird/Raptor Rendzvous May 10 • Beautiful location for your special event Mention 5enses and get $10 off a Family Membership through May.

Wonder

Explore

928-776-9550 www.highlandscenter.org 1375 S. Walker Road, Prescott

Discover

� • FEATURE • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

a walk alongside one of Prescott’s lakes at any time of the year, and you’re likely to see a tall gray-and-white heron standing in shallow water, or on a nearby shore, as it quietly stalks its next meal. The Great Blue Heron stands 4-feet tall, has a long neck, and a massive bill. In flight, the heron evokes something of a prehistoric image with its deep, slow mechanicallooking wing beats, its head tucked back on its shoulders, and its legs dangling well behind. Should you visit Florida, you’ll discover a white morph of the Great Blue Heron.

Initially, the Great Blue Heron may appear ungainly while walking tentatively through shallow water. When it freezes statue-like with neck coiled, strikes the water in the blink of an eye and catches a fish, you’ll gain a new respect for this agile hunter. These herons have a more varied diet than you might expect including frogs, snakes, rodents, and even other un-

wary birds. The spectacle of a Great Blue Heron struggling to swallow a bullfrog down its long, thin neck is not soon forgotten. Their eyes also permit nocturnal hunting. In residential areas, unprotected Koi ponds can become literal fish-in-a-barrel targets for these birds.

Great Blue Herons generally roost and nest in trees. During the springtime, watch for them in the cottonwood grove at the far west end of Willow Lake — a location they often share with nesting Cormorants. The cacophony of sounds from their active nesting sites is a delightful reminder of nature’s unfolding drama in neighborhoods near you.

***** Steve Burk is a retired Prescottonian with a doctorate in atmospheric physics. Contat him at BurkSTSU@ CableOne.Net Contact Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org, Contact@ PrescottAudubon.Org, or 928-7786502.

Around ... ... the Corner

Marvel-us May-nia

By Ruby Jackson I love a good fiesta. Prescott celebrates Cinco de Mayo 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Saturday, May 3 on Gurley Street on the north side of the Yavapai County Courthouse Square. It’s a family affair with bouncy houses and activities for the kids, a street taco competition, margarita contest, and plenty of food and drink for sale.

Make sure to catch the mariachi bands and folklorico dancers.

Saturday, May 3 also marks the opening day of the tasting room at Thumb Butte Distillery on the corner of Moeller and Washington streets. Doors open at high noon.

It’s the first legal distillery here in Prescott since prohibition ended in 1933. This is a fine establishment specializing in whiskey, bourbon, gin, and vodka, all fashioned on site. A plan for dark rum in time for summer is in the works as well as a line of bitters. Local juniper berries and sage are added to the Gurley Street Gin, and local corn and wheat are sourced for their whiskeys. The distillery’s tasting room is charming, and they’ve added a deck for you to bask on while sipping libations. Sit and savor.

Speaking of prohibition and fine establishments, the former Sundance’s Place/Scottie’s has undergone a stunning metamorphosis into The Point, an upscale affair with a fabulous drink menu. Leather and old fashioneds replace the cracked vinyl and Pabst Blue Ribbon this place was known for in its dive bar days (which I also appreciated).

Following a hush-hush soft opening in April, this finely tuned operation specializes in classic cocktails and signature drinks, not to mention an outstanding craft beer selection.

Timeless Meditations: Mandalas & Patterns in Nature

The owners of Thumb Butte Distillery discuss operations. Photo by 5enses. rounds out the local art scene May 5 through June 21 at the Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery with an opening reception on Friday, May 9. This exhibit celebrates the spiritual patterns found in nature inducing focus and connecting us to the universe at large. Or, just go to see the pretty circles.

I thought I was pretty savvy about local legends, but I wasn’t familiar with the story of Baby Bell, affectionately known as the Chance Cobweb Hall tale. A popular yarn about a baby girl left to fate on a Whiskey Row saloon counter (the Cabinet) one winter’s night back in 1898, fought over by patrons before being whisked away by Judge Charles Hicks to be raised in his home. Hear the historical veracity behind the story in a free presentation at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 10 at Sharlot Hall Museum.

Learn more about Prescott in the Discovery Dash, sponsored in part

by Brick & Bones Moonshine Bar and Patio. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 10, follow clues to checkpoints on an amazing race that includes a mystery challenge at each stop. Described as a “crazy urban adventure,” the dash starts and ends at the Brick & Bones.

Visit DiscoveryDash.Com for more.

The city of Prescott is celebrating our sesquicentennial (150th birthday) from May 30 through June 1. There’s a big-ass cake, Western village, and living history displays/

reenactments alongside music and beer and wine gardens. Check the city’s website for times and venues.

And buy the obligatory coffee mug. ***** A native of the Windy City, Ruby

Jackson is a freelance writer and collector of Norfin Trolls. In her spare time, she’s an aspiring actress (drama queen) and millionairess (donations gladly accepted). Contact her at RubyJackson@Gmail.Com.

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

pilF Photo

Photo by Alan Levine.

Am I algae? Am I fungus? Who do I hide among us?

�ENSESMAG.COM • MAY ���� • COLUMN & FEATURE • �

Draft picks

Black Hole Beer Co. taps in

By Robert Blood [Editor’s note: The follows excerpts are from a conversation between the reporter and Eric Marichal, co-owner of Prescott’s Black Hole Beer Company.]

Describe Black Hole Beer Co. It’s a beer company, so it’s everything beer-related. We have brewing supplies on site, we teach classes as a brew school, we make our own beer, we have beers from other local breweries right now, and we have a full liquor license, so there’s wine and whiskey, too. We just signed a chef on, so, by the end of May, we’ll have food service — lighter fare, more on the grilled side of things, maybe some cheese plates.

How long did it take to set up?

Probably about a year, as far as the

planning goes. The actual business?

Since September of last year or so.

Because of budgetary constraints, we had to get creative. The wood on this (the far interior) wall is made from pallets. … My wife uses Pinterest — that’s how we figured that out.

If you type in “pallets,” you’ll find amazing things. They’re fun to work with, and they’re pretty much free.

The shelving and tables in here, we all built from repurposed wood and iron pipes. The bar was already here, so that helped. We got to redo everything; it was pretty bare bones.

I know Chris (Mewhinney, owner of Mile Hi Brewing Supplies) has been doing this a while, but what’s your experience?

I’ve brewed before. Chris was teaching a brewing class at Yavapai College, which is how I met him. I started going into his shop. That’s how

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

Flip otohP

Photo by Emily Hoyer.

Lichen – a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between fungus and algae. In spring, birds such as Anna’s Hummingbird, collect algae to camouflage their nests. Explore the Highlands Center to find out more.

� • FEATURES • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Eric Marichal, co-owner of Prescott’s Black Hole Beer Company, bandies a bag of donated bottle caps bound for the bottle-cap wall on the patio. Photo by 5enses. this idea came about. All I wanted to do was make beer and sell it at my other business, Hotel Vendome, but it grew into this. Originally we were just going to do a commercial brewery, but once we started looking at spaces, it turned into a tap room.

Chris has been brewing for over 20 years, so he’s got a lot of experience.

How’s brewing on this scale different than small batches?

The equipment is ridiculously expensive, for one. Another thing is that, when you’re home brewing, you can fudge a lot of little things. I’ll give you an example. Typically, you have to have temperature control for fermentation. If you’re home brewing, you can use a chest freezer or a mini-fridge or, what people often do, is use wet towels. Say the room is 68 degrees but we need to brew at 64 — you can put a wet towel on a 5-gallon fermentor. That doesn’t work on an 80-gallon fermentor. So you’ve got a couple of different options. You can use a glycol coolant system, but that’s expensive to set up. You can also climate control the room.

Another difference is getting all the grains and ingredients on a much larger scale. When you’re home brewing, you buy a sack of grain.

We’re talking about 100 pounds of grain or more, now.

The community really came out for this. I’m speaking of your Kickstarter campaign.

Yeah, we got a little over $19,000 for various things like additional fermentors so we could make more beer. And equipment for some of our barrel-aged beer. We’re really grateful and want to say thank you to everyone.

OK, now the über important question: What kind of beers are you going to make?

They run the gamut from pilsners to Russian imperial stouts. Let’s see, there’s a chocolate orange imperial porter, a saison, a sorachi ace IPA, a Kölsch-style, a hefeweizen, and, well, we’re doing a bunch of stuff. We’re opening with four beers but should have eight within the first couple of months. Chris and I have a good partnership in that he likes a lot of German-style beers and gets into that style while I’m into what some people call extreme beers. So, yeah, we run the gamut. ***** Black Hole Beer Company, 1590 Swenson St., Prescott, 928-237-9029, is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.- 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Sundays. Visit BlackHoleBeer Company.Com for more info.

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will be his first. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

THE CABLE COMPANY

I

What if they owned everything?

I

drove off, still fuming, but was soon distracted by car problems. Sometimes I could keep up with traffic, but sometimes my car slowed for no apparent reason. “It’s going to be one of those days,” I thought, “But at least the car’s under warranty.”

I limped into the dealership where I described the problem to the service manager. He patiently explained that what I had experienced was normal.

“But the car was advertised to go 100 mph,” I protested.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a good-natured smile.

“If you read the fine print in your owner’s manual, it says up to 100 mph. That’s just the downhill speed. The uphill speed is only up to 10 mph.”

“You aren’t owned by THE

When

I finally got home, I grabbed my mail and sat down to reflect on what had happened. It was as if I’d slipped down a rabbit hole and emerged in a world with a whole different set of rules. But, in this case, the mean and spiteful Queen of Hearts had been replaced by THE CABLE COMPANY. And THE CABLE COMawoke in a cold sweat. It had all been a dream PANY was worse.

– a bad dream. But it was also real. Just the I reached for my electric bill while I pondered evening before, I’d been on the phone with THE smoking caterpillars, fine print, and Food Packag- CABLE COMPANY discussing problems with my es. I gasped; it was 10 times more than the highest internet, TV, and phone service. Now, I felt like bill I’d ever had. Frantically, I dialed the number Dorothy waking up in Kansas after the tornado. for customer service and, after going through 17 I went to the computer to see if the internet voice mail menus and being put on hold for 20 problem was fixed. Not yet. I picked up the phone. minutes, I finally got a live person.

No dial tone. I didn’t bother to try the TV. I knew I gave her my name, social security number, hat this wasn’t a dream. size, password, basal metabolic rate, and a few other pieces of “required identifying information,” ***** and then I attempted to explain the problem. She Fred Leonard is a freelance writer and cable checked my account and announced that the bill customer. When his internet service is working, was correct. he can be contacted at FDLeonard@Yahoo.Com. “We no longer bill based on what you use Prescott’s 4th Friday but on the maximum you possibly could use if everything were working perfectly, which I know it usually isn’t, but that doesn’t matter. It’s just like EVERY your cable TV or teleTH phone.”

“Not you too,” I said dejectedly.

“Yep,” she replied, “THE CABLE COMPA2014 NY.” January 24

Images via All-Free-Download.Com. Illustration by 5enses.

I

4 4FRIDAY

ART WALKS

’S

can’t buy just orange juice and a candy bar,” the grocery cashier told me in a manner that telegraphed this was at least the 100th time today she’d had to say it.

“I beg your pardon?” I replied.

“You can’t buy just the few things you want,” she explained. “THE CABLE COMPANY bought this store and now you have to purchase things in Food Packages. If you want just the orange juice, you can get it with the Economy Food Package that also includes 19 other items. But people find that most of those items are things they don’t want. So, to get what they want most, many people buy the Standard Food Package. That way, they get 100 different items. Most are still things they don’t want, but at least they get some things that they do.”

“But I don’t want 100 items; I just want orange juice and a candy bar.”

“Well, if you want the candy bar, you’ll also need to get the Sugary Value Package that includes things like candy, donuts, and Twinkies.”

“Forget it!” I huffed. “I’ll go somewhere else.”

“It won’t do you any good,” she sighed. “THE CABLE COMPANY owns all the stores in town.”

As I stormed out the door to my car, I heard her say, “You’ll be baaaack.”

COT T

“You

CABLE COMPANY are you?” I asked beginning to understand.

“I’m afraid so.”

PRE S

By Fred Leonard

slumped back in my chair as I hung up the phone. What was the world coming to? Wait a minute, is that smoke? Do I smell smoke?

Smoke??!! Smoke and flames were pouring from the back of my TV where the cable attached.

911! I have to call 911!! When the operator answered I screamed, “FIRE!! MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!”

“We can have an engine company out there either Thursday morning or Thursday afternoon,” the matter-of-fact voice on the other end informed me. “You’ll have to be there all morning or all afternoon because if they arrive and you aren’t there, they can’t put out the fire.”

“NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IT’S ON FIRE!!

MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!! FIRE FIRE FI—”

February 28 March 28 April 25 Beginning at 5 PM May 23 June 27 July 25 August 22 September 26 October 24 November 28 December 26

See Special Events

www.ArtThe4th.com

�ENSESMAG.COM • MAY ���� • COLUMN • �

Left Brain: May’s mind-full events

10

Events

3

“King of the Cowboys” • 1 p.m. Saturday: Christine Reid discusses cowboy movie star Tom Mix. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $5-$7)

“A Slow Trot Home” • 4 p.m. Saturday: Lisa G. Sharp shares stories from her memoir about family life on a ranch, cowboys, and caring for the land along the U.S./Mexico border. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “Starry Nights” • 8 p.m. Saturday: Star party via Prescott Astronomy Club. (Camp Wamatochick, 5101 S. Senator Highway, 928-778-6502)

4 6

“Called Again” • 1:30 p.m. Sunday: Jennifer Pharr Davis discusses her new book, “Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph,” and her record-breaking trek across the Appalachian Mountains.

(Prescott Public Library, 928-777-1526)

“America the Beautiful” • 6:30 p.m. Tuesday: Screening of a documentary about the concepts of beauty promoted by the cosmetics and diet industries and their effects on youth, women, and American culture. Via Open Awareness Films.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-350-8598)

7 10

“Beyond Messier” • 6 p.m. Wednesday: Dr. David Viscio talk at monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting.

(Yavapai Title Trust, 1235 E. Gurley St.)

Water-Savvy Landscaping With Native Plants • 10 a.m. Saturday: Steve Miller, of The Native Garden, talk at monthly Citizens Water Advocacy Group meeting. (Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation Building, 882 Sunset Ave., 928-445-4218)

“Charity on Whiskey Row” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Brad Courtney discusses the truth behind the “Baby Bell” legend about a baby girl left on a saloon counter in 1898.

(Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-2133) “Geronimo & the Apache Surrender” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Jay Van Orden, of the Arizona Historical Society, Second Saturday talk. (Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230) “A Journey Through Space & Time” • 6 p.m. Saturday: Jeff Stillman, Prescott Astronomy Club president, talk at monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting, plus star party. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

Migratory Bird Day • 8 a.m. Saturday, May 10: Celebrate this international holiday at the Highlands Center for Natural History with bird walks by the Prescott Audubon Society, Eric Moore, of Jay’s Bird Barn, and Sue Arnold, a Highlands Center naturalist.

Presentations begin at noon and include a talk

by Noel Fletcher and “Raptor Rendezvous,” a live-bird presentation

by Scottsdale-based Liberty Wildlife.

(Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, free except for “Raptor Rendezvous,” $2-$5) PHOTO: A Bald Eagle sighted at Fain Lake in Prescott Valley.

Courtesy photo.

13

“Chemosynthetic Bacterial Gold Precipitation” • 6:30 p.m. Tuesday: Eric Melchiorre, California State University San Bernardino, talk about how “minor miners” grew some Arizona gold nuggets in situ at monthly Central Arizona Geology Club meeting. (Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, Bump and Elsea conference rooms, 928-777-1500)

15

“Is There Life in the Universe?”

• 6:30 p.m. Thursday: Klaus Brauch, of the Coconino Astronomy Club, presentation at Third Thursday Star Talk via Prescott Astronomy Club. (Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-7771500) “Growing Up in Tombstone” • 7 p.m. Thursday: Arizona native Dorie Roepke talk at monthly Skull Valley Historical Society meeting. (Community Hall, 3150 Old Skull Valley Road, 928-442-2314)

16

Moonlit Naturalist Walk • 7:30 p.m. Friday: Experience the wonder of nature at night. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928776-9550)

� • EVENTS • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

17

“Kaleidoscope of Color” • 10 a.m. Saturday: Fifteenth annual iris exhibit and sale. (Mortimer’s Nursery, 3166 Willow Creek Road, 623-980-6627)

“The Kill Switch” • 1 p.m. Saturday: James Rollins, author and veterinarian, discusses his newest book.

(Prescott Valley Public Library, 7401 E. Civic Circle, 928-759-3040)

Fort Whipple sesquicentennial • 2 p.m. Saturday: Living history interpreters and docents share the circumstances, history, and events leading up to the 1864 relocation during which the fort became Prescott’s social and military center. (Fort Whipple Museum, V.A. Medical Center, Arizona 89, 928-445-3122) Mile High Comedy Theater • 7 p.m. Saturday: Comedy show. (The Elks Theatre & Performing Arts Center, 117 E. Gurley St., 928-777-1370, $10)

22

“The Dragonfly Whisperer” • 7 p.m. Thursday: Prof. James Walker discusses dragonflies at monthly Prescott Audubon Society meeting. (Trinity Presbyterian Church, 630 Park Ave., 928-778-6502)

24

“My So-called Ruined Life” • 2 p.m. Saturday: Prescott College professor and author Melanie Bishop discusses her new book for young adults. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “Starry Nights” • 7:30 p.m. Saturday: Star party via Prescott Astronomy Club. (Pronghorn Park, 7931 Rusty Spur Trail, 928-778-6502)

25

Prescott Orchid Society • 1 p.m. Sunday: Monthly meeting. (Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 928-7771500)

Multi-day

Native Plant Sale & Outdoor Art Festival • 8:30 a.m. May 3 & 11 a.m. May 4: Annual event featuring native plant sale and outdoor art show. Profits fund scholarships to naturebased educational programs. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) Bird walks • 7 a.m. May 3, 9, 16, 23, & 31: Bird walks at Watson Woods, Granite Creek/Verde River, Bradshaws (7 p.m. owling), White Spar, and Cottonwood Peninsula. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP) Prescott Area Boardgamers • 5 p.m. May 14 & 28: Play board games.

(Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, Bump and Elsea conference rooms, 928-7771500) Mindfulness meditation • 6:30 p.m. informal sit, 7 p.m. formal sit Tuesdays: Meditation group open to people of all faiths and non-faiths followed by optional discussion. (601 Miller Valley Road, park in back, PrescottVipassana.Org) Naturalist City & Field Walks • 10 a.m. Wednesdays & Saturdays: Learn about local birds, geology, plants, and more.

(HighlandsCenter.Org., 928-776-9550) Scrabble group • 1 p.m. Thursdays: Play Scrabble and Upwords. (Prescott Public Library, Bump and Elsea conference rooms, 928-777-1500) Drop in chess • 2 p.m. Saturdays: Play chess, all ages and skill levels welcome. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

May’s art-full events :niarB thgiR

1 3

Events

Poets Cooperative • 6:30 p.m. Thursday: Share your poetry at this monthly meeting. (Prescott Public Library, Bump Conference Room, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“A Secret Language” • 7:30 p.m. Saturday: A dance performance via Prescott College’s Choreography in the Community class and Spring Ridge Academy. Directed by Delisa Myles and Breanna Rogers. (Prescott College’s Granite Performing Arts Center, 218 B N. Granite St., 928-713-5367)

Free Comic Book Day • Saturday: Grab a free comic book at participating venues, including Peregrine Book Co. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

7 10

Poetry discussion group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly poetry discussion group. (Prescott Public Library, Elsea Conference Room, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“A River Runs Thru Us” • 3 p.m. Saturday: Sneak peak of Bob Rothrock’s upcoming 25-artist exhibit about the Verde River. Show benefits research and education projects via the Verde Valley Land Preservation Institute. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

17 21 23 28

Prescott Pup Crawl • 4 p.m. Saturday: Second annual fundraiser helping animals in need. Visit PrescottPupCrawl.Org for locations and promotions.

Pooches welcome. (Starts at The Beastro, 117 N. McCormick St., 928-227-2796, $10)

Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday: Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday: Monthly art walk including 18-plus galleries, artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations. (ArtThe4th.Com) Professional Writers of Prescott • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday: Monthly meeting.

(Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Multi-day

Chalk It Up! • 10 a.m. May 3 & 5: Sixth annual chalk art event with featured artists, open to all.

Visit PrescottChalkArt.Com for more info.

(National Bank Plaza, 201 N. Montezuma St., 928-308-8762)

“One Man’s Treasure” • 4 p.m. Saturday, May 3: Third annual art auction and fundraiser of recycled art culled and created from Prescott riparian area cleanups.

Benefits Prescott Creeks Preservation Association.

(Prescott College Crossroads Center, 228 Grove Ave., 928-445-9565, $40) PHOTO: “Water,” a recycled art piece by Juanita Hull-Carlson.

Courtesy image.

Manipulated.

show tackling the babble of the sexes via five alter egos. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $12-$24) “Les Misérables” • 7:30 p.m. May 29-31 with dates in June: A story of redemption and revolution in 19th century France based on the historical novel

by Victor Hugo. Directed by Don Langford with musical direction by Linda Sheehan.

(Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286, $18-$22)

Art

3

Prescott Highland Games • 9 a.m. May 10 & 11: Tenth annual celebration of Celtic culture. Visit Prescott HighlandGames.Com for more info.

(Watson Lake Park, Arizona 89 & Willow Lake Road, 928-443-1422, $10-$15)

Prescott Fine Art & Wine Festival • May 10 & 11: Twenty-eighth annual fine art and wine festival. (Yavapai County Courthouse Square, 120 S. Cortez St., 928-445-2510) Bronzesmith open house • 9 a.m. May 23 & May 24: Annual open house with tours and demonstrations.

(Bronzesmith Fine Art Foundry & Gallery, 7331 E. Second St., 928-772-2378) Western art show & sale • 9 a.m. May 24 & May 25: Fortieth annual Phippen Museum show and sale.

(Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza, 120 S. Cortez St., 928-778-1385) Santo Domingo Pueblo artists • May 24 & 25: The Calabaza family and 10 other Santo Domingo Pueblo artists display artwork and perform. (Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230, $6-$7) Saturday Night Talk Series • 7 p.m. Saturdays, May 10-31: Weekly talk series including “Ultimate Wealth: Daring Our Highest Point of Contribution to the World,” “The Inner Power of Silence: Working Toward Stillness in a World of Chaos,” “Poetry Reading by Red Hawk: Awakening the Feminine Within,” and “The Wound is the Place Where the Light Enters You.” (The Courtyard Building;, 115 E. Goodwin St., 928-771-0205, $5)

Gunter • From May 1: Arizona landscapes by Alice Gunter. (Method Coffee, 3180 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-1067) “Timeless Meditations” • From May 5: A well-rounded art show featuring mandalas and patterns in nature.

(Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286)

Theater & film

“Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You” & “The Actor’s Nightmare” • 7:30 p.m. May 1-3 & 8-10 and 2 p.m. May 4 & 11: Two twisted one-act plays with the bite of a shark by Christopher Durang. (Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286, $12) “It Takes a Village” • 6 p.m. May 3: A vaudeville show with cabaret overtones. Via The Hungry Kids Project.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $100) “La Cenerentola” • 9:55 a.m. May 10: Via satellite, The Metropolitan Opera’s presentation of Gioachino Rossini’s twist on the Cinderella story. Starring soprano Joyce DiDonato, conducted by Fabio Luisi. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $24) “The Performer” • 7 p.m. May 22: Tomorrow’s Theatre Tonight reading of a short musical by Jonathan Best about a piano who player performs at a psychiatric ward and has a discussion with a doctor.

(Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) Improvitonians • 10 p.m. May 24: Improv comedy at 5,000 feet.

(Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286, $5) “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron” • 7:30 p.m. May 28: Robert Dubac’s one-man

Graduating senior exhibition • Through May 9: Prescott College’s arts and letters graduation senior exhibition.

(Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) “Distinct & Recent” • Through May 10: Spring 2014 juried exhibit of student art from Yavapai College art students. (Yavapai College Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031) “When Opposites Attract” • Through May 13: Photography by George Lewis and Arlene Minuskin. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Cheaper Than Psychotherapy” • From May 15: Art by Deb Alberty, Brenda Diller, and Susanne Straussner. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) Benfer & Bradford • From May 16: Art by Brian Benfer and Carlton Bradford. (Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) Found object show • Through May 17: Artists unearth meaning in objets trouves. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) Miller • Through May 21: Kinetic to wearable metal art by Ron Miller. (Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717) Native American art show • From May 22: Annual Native American art show presented by ’Tis Art Center & Gallery and Smoki Museum. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

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Ready, set, grow

Prescott Farmers Market returns May 10 for 2014 season

By Heather Houk Maybe you’re looking forward to May for its many holidays like Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day. And there’s Memorial Day, and we should all offer respect to our veterans. I’d like you to add another holiday to your May calendar, though: Saturday, May 10.

That day marks the start of the Prescott Farmers Market’s 2014 season. Consider this brief account of our history, and I hope you’ll agree it’s worth celebrating.

In

1996, a handful of farmers organized a farmers market and started meeting in the parking lot behind the Prescott Chamber of Commerce office on Goodwin Street. (Thanks for letting us do that, by the way.) There community’s response was good. It was a great way to obtain seasonal, fresh, and local produce. By 1997, the Prescott Farmers Market was officially established to offer a place to support and encourage farmers in Yavapai County and surrounding counties to sell their agricultural products.

The market remained on Goodwin Street in front of the chamber, where it blocked off westbound traffic for four-and-a-half hours every Saturday from May to October. That was our home from 1997 to 1999. The market began to outgrow that space, and the city of Prescott helped us shift around the corner to our third location in front of the wonderful businesses on Cortez Street just south of the Yavapai County Courthouse Square.

Some people were concerned that that move might hurt the market but, again, our community rallied strong and the market thrived there for the next several years. During this time, the market became a beacon for local agriculture and a fantastic source of education and growth in the number of people starting small farms or large gardens, as well as providing an outlet for prepared food vendors.

Sticking to our mission statement during expansion was essential. Unto that end, requirements were established and every non-agriculture vendor was required to use at least 10 percent local ingredients in any products they sold. The figure was 75 percent for artisans. And, of course, it was 100 percent for local farmers.

And the market grew.

By

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the time the Prescott Farmers Market forged a relationship with Yavapai College in 2004, the

Patrons and farmers interact at the Prescott Farmers Market, which returns for the 2014 season on Saturday, May 10. Courtesy photo. market had more than 20 vendors. That felt huge at the time. Little did we know that the market would grow to more than 70 vendors by 2013. The market’s growth is owed almost entirely to one of the most supportive communities around.

The market now has vendors from around Arizona who only sell products they grow or make with Arizona ingredients. And there’s no resale.

The market is still dedicated to education, school gardens, and new farmer development through our nonprofit charter (incidentally, another significant market feature).

So

what, you may ask, does this mean to you? Well, everything. Farmers markets have been on the rise steadily since 1994, according to the USDA, and some analysts believe that growth is beginning to stall. I argue that our community of growers and eaters isn’t going to let that happen to the Prescott Farmers Market.

Our market has plans to keep growing and serving this community as long as people come out and shop, rain or shine — this year 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 10 through Saturday, Oct. 25 at Yavapai College’s Parking Lot D at 1100 E. Sheldon St. See you there. ***** Heather Houk is an agriculture instructor at Prescott College and a volunteer and former Managing Director for the Prescott Farmers Market. For more information on the Prescott Farmers Market email Info@PrescottFarmers Market.Org.

brain food In the kitchen with mom

By Jimmy Polinori — The Culinary Composer

I have the most wonderful mother. Truly. The woman (now a Prescott resident, coincidentally) who gave me life had not a clue what she was in for with me.

Having a creative child is one thing. Having a child that is creative in all things is completely another. Cleaning up after and supporting every art and creative skill ever imagined must not have been an easy task.

Her support never waivered, though, and that belief she instilled in me to explore all realms of possibilities has taken me on many journies — some beautiful, some dark, all worth it. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to harness the attention deficit of my creativity and pair it with the experiences I was encouraged to explore.

It was through the support of my wild imaginings and multiple trashings of her kitchen (don’t even ask about the tupperware bowl/ scrambled eggs incident) that my mother taught me the value of a gift from the heart.

It was a Mother’s Day, in fact, many moons ago that this angel of a woman found me crying in a corner in my room (I believe I was 8).

When she asked what was wrong I told her I was upset because I had no money to get her a gift. She led me by the hand to the kitchen and had me help her make breakfast and said, “Now you’ll know how to make it on your own and next year and you can bring it to me in bed and share with me. Even making it with you today is a gift, son. You don’t ever need money to give anyone a gift.”

It is rare that I give a gift anymore that wasn’t baked with love or created with a rare level of thoughtfulness that often catches the recipient by surprise.

Dads, this Mother’s Day, instead of buying a gaudy matching purple purse and umbrella set or, even worse, a kitchen appliance (all true stories) take the kids into the kitchen and get creative. It may turn out wonderful. Or not. Either way, you will create a masterpiece of a memory.

So, if you see Lynne Brown walking her Husky around town, give her a hug from her son and ask her to tell you about the tupperware bowl/scrambled eggs incident.

On my Facebook page, The Culinary Composer, you can find great recipes that the kids can help make.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Find Mother’s Day recipes and tips at

Facebook.Com/TheCulinaryComposer

PRESCOO FARMERS MARKET Saturdays, May 10th - October 25th 7:30 a.m. - Noon Yavapai College “parking lot D” 1100 E. Sheldon St.

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER MARKET!

CHINO VALLEY THURSDAYS June 6- October 17 3:00 - 6:00 P.M. Walgreens, corner of Highway 89 and Rd. 2 North

Fresh, quality produce, from local farmers, plus salsa, honey, local meat, farmers cheese, tamales, baked goods, hand-made soup, live plants, fresh herbs, cut owers, and more.

Come meet the folks who grow your food in a lively community atmosphere that’s fun for the whole family!

The Prescott Farmers Market accepts FMNP coupons (WIC), Food Stamps (EBT), credit and debit cards.

Seeking local growers, musicians, and volunteers.

Contact us at 713.1227 or info@prescoofarmersmarket.org

WWW.PRESCOOFARMERSMARKET.ORG

5ENSESMAG.COM • MAY 2014 • COLUMN • 11

Alan Dean Foster’s Perceivings

Pastafauteuils, with fruits of the rest of us. And when the two paintings (unbeknownst to him, stolen in 1970 from the home of a British collector) came up for sale at a railroad lost property auction, he shelled out 45,000 of his hard-earned lira for them. He didn’t know, or even suspect, that they might be valuable. He just liked the pretty pictures. Liked them more than whoever bid $20 for them, or $25.

By Alan Dean Foster He liked art, so he paid 30 bucks for them. Not apiece. For both paintings. At a lost/abandoned property auction. “Fruits sur une Table ou Nature au Petit Chien.” Fruit on a table with a small dog. Not exactly dramatic subject matter. Neither is the subject matter of the second painting, “La Femme aux Deux Fauteuils.” Woman with two armchairs.

The fruit is nicely done. The woman in the armchair looks relaxed.

The first painting is by Paul Gauguin and is estimated to be worth between $20 million and $40 million dollars. The second is by Pierre Bonnard and is barely worth, oh, maybe a quick million.

The tale of how these two masterpieces ended up on the kitchen wall of an Italian factory worker is readily available for anyone to research. Or you can wait for the inevitable movie. (Where’s Vittorio di Sica when you need him?) That’s not what interests me here, nor the astonishing valuation of the two works. What fascinates me is what it tells us about the love of art and the perception of quality.

Our

Italian, self-described art lover didn’t work for the Uffizi Gallery, or the Borghese, or the Vatican museums. He was not a critic for one of the big newspapers in Rome or Milan, did not write learned treatises for slick magazines. He was a factory worker for Fiat. He made car parts. But he loved art, just like so many

In a department store or art shop, you can pay a lot more than that for a halfway decent print of a Gauguin or Bonnard. Usually accompanied by some kind of printing beneath them identifying each painting as having been exhibited in Paris, or Berlin, or New York.

Our unnamed art-lover didn’t even get that bonus. There were only the pictures. Fruit on a table. A woman seated with a couple of chairs. Nice colors, nothing theatrical about either composition, interesting brushwork. And the frames were good. They’ll look nice in the kitchen.

Our preternaturally perceptive auto worker kept them for 40 years. After awhile, he could have sold them to a second-hand shop, or maybe at a garage sale. But he kept them, all that time. When he retired to Sicily, he took both pictures with him. That must have required at least a bit of care and effort. The pictures aren’t small. They would have had to have been packed carefully.

Did he see genius hidden in his two purchases?

Did he suspect they might be worth more than he had paid for them? Maybe, oh, $100? No. I think he just liked — the art. He must have, to have kept and cared for them for four decades. How many of us acquire “art” and dispose of it when we move, or when we grow tired of it after 10 or 20 years, or give it away to friends or relatives?

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Forty years. The true nature of the paintings only came to light when the man’s son saw another Gauguin in a book and remarked on the similarity to his dad’s old kitchen décor.

So, what happens now?

The

original owners have both died. They have apparently left no heirs. It is possible that their property went to a trust, a charity, or a museum. If that’s the case, then both paintings might legally belong to any one of those institutions. And yet. …

Our auto worker bought them fair and square, utterly ignorant of their burgled provenance.

Forty years have passed. I don’t know if there is a statute of limitations on charitable gifts in Britain, or what the legal ramifications might be. And of course it would now be dangerous for the present owner to keep two such hugely valuable works in his home. In Sicily, no less.

But as romantic and unreasonable as it may be, I prefer to think that they might stay with him, at least until he dies, the Gauguin and the Bonnard keeping one another company. Perhaps in the kitchen, while someone prepares bread and pasta and the rich warm smells of Italian cooking fill the little house. As well they stay there as in any museum.

Because I know they are appreciated by their owner. And that’s what art is, ultimately, all about.

***** Alan Dean Foster is author of more than 120 books, visitor to more than 100 countries, and still frustrated by the human species. Follow him at AlanDeanFoster.Com.

Images via public domain.

The grind

Rick Hartner bridges passion & practicality

By Jill Craig

It

began as a matter of practicality. In the late 1990s, Rick Hartner was working a 9-to-5 job as an operations manager for a recycling and composting facility in California. While planning for a conference, Hartner tried making easels out of recycled metal instead of renting. It would save the rental few. In turn, each unique easel was sold and the profits went to the recycling facility. This idea was the seedling of what became Hartner’s Sitting Duck Studio.

After leaving the recycling company, Rick pondered the possibilities of launching a new career in art. He had always been creative — he played the mandolin and guitar — but after enrolling in a welding class and messing around with a few scraps of metal, Rick was inspired to try his hand at metal sculpting. One question remained, however. Could he do it for a living?

Space for art Many an artist has found it difficult to balance financial stability with creative drive. Hartner has spent the past 14 years paving a way to support his family and simultaneously express his innate creativity. In 2000, with the full support of his wife, he dove in head first by investing $2,000 to start Sitting Duck Studios. Today, in Kirkland,

Hartner is a different kind of 9-to-5-er — one who creates what he dubs “one-of-a-kind contemporary metal sculpture.”

“In order to make a living doing what you love,” Hartner said, “you must be willing to try everything to see what will sell.”

In February, Hartner gave at talk at Yavapai College, where he encouraged other artists with his own perspective.

“You can either paint a client with their pet or you can create custom pet portraits,” he said.

That may seem like a small matter of semantics, but, for Hartner, that subtle distinction has him working every day in order to fulfill a long list of commissions.

In outward appearance, his studio is a garden of miscellaneous scraps of metal. In actuality, it’s a carefully arranged, purposefully posed inventory of Hartner’s chosen artistic medium — namely, scrap metal. Much of the metal he uses was either dumped on his doorstep or gathered from recycling centers, old farms, and ranches.

Rick Hartner works on a piece of scrap metal with an angle grinder recently in his home art studio, Sitting Duck Studio.

Photo by 5enses.

This metal sign adorns Rick Hartner’s studio in Kirkland.

Photo by 5enses.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 >>> 5ENSESMAG.COM • MAY 2014 • PORTFOLIO • 13

... FROM PAGE 13 Safety and organization are the building blocks of Hartner’s daily routine. As he sees it, every aspect of his physical being is crucial to creating art, which is why, when he’s in the studio, he’s clad in a thick, leather apron and chaps. His hands and face are likewise covered with a pair of oversized, insulated leather gloves and a heavy welding helmet. He even dons a respirator when he’s focused on minor tasks.

Creative business solutions Because he’s got an eye on the business end of the studio, whenever Hartner takes on a piece of work, he’s got to keep in mind exactly what the client wants.

“It is difficult to be creative when you are caught up in the daily struggle to make a living,” he said.

“Even though I am now making a living as an artist, I still have the feeling that I could be even more creative if I worked solo.”

In 2008, the Prescott Valley Civic Center purchased “Dance of Whimsy,” a piece he’d displayed at the Prescott Brewing Company. Many more of his metal sculptures enhance residential landscapes and private jobs in and around Prescott.

Hartner’s most recognizable sculptures are small, recycled-metal birds that vary in size, color, and form. You can find them at the Highlands Center for Natural History and Jay’s Bird Barn.

14 • PORTFOLIO • MAY 2014 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

He also sells unique bird baths at the latter.

After the installation of his most recent commission, a custom-made cactus bird-spa designed to complement the client’s cactus garden and encourage birds to stop and take a drink, a client proclaimed Rick as “the master of metal.” More of Hartner’s work has been described by private patrons and appreciators as “not just assemblages of society’s trash, but rather the creation of caricatures and objects that draw in the viewer and evoke a smile or outright laughter.”

Hartner, according to another patron, can “create sculpture that exudes a personal touch — something that is increasingly absent in today’s high-tech world.”

In a pile of old pipes and metal grating, Hartner sees a winding river amidst distant hills or a quail and her trailing chicks. Hartner enjoys finding ways to make metal move and sway, to turn it into an organic, breathing, moving piece of art inspired by nature.

Community Sitting Duck Studio has found a supportive client base in Prescott and beyond. While Hartner spends a lot of time working in the studio to fulfill any number of commissions, he also practices his belief that “if you expect your community to support you as an artist, you must also consider how you can be supportive of your community.”

To wit, Hartner takes on apprentices, invites

local classrooms to the studio for tours and demonstrations, gives community presentations, and frequently donates art pieces to charitable auctions and organizations including the Highlands Center for Natural History, Prescott Creeks, the Prescott Film Festival, and the Children’s Peace Project.

Hartner approaches every aspect of his art in the same practical manner that led him to art in the first place. He even gives a lifetime guarantee on every sculpture he creates. Whatever he creates, he said, becomes his legacy. Hartner has found a purpose in life and immense pleasure in Sitting Duck Studios.

As he ages, he said, he may have to create smaller pieces of art, but he’ll never stop creating.

COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A detail from “In Your Eye,” a metal sculpture by Rick Hartner, stands stark against a clear sky; a flock of Rick Hartner’s metal birds nest in a wagon wheel near Sitting Duck Studio, in Kirkland. These birds are Hartner’s “entry-level” art pieces and are annually donated as gift basket items for the Prescott Film Festival; a nature-inspired sculpture adorns a private garden in Sedona; a gate portraying the geology of the Grand Canyon stands as the entry point to a private Prescott residence; a custom bird bath sun bathes near the entry of Rick Hartner’s Sitting Duck Studio.

Sculptures by Rick Hartner. Photos by 5enses.

***** See more of Rick Hartner’s metal sculptures at the Highlands Center for Natural History and Jay’s Bird Barn in Prescott. Visit SittingDuck Studio.Com for more info.

Jill Craig is the former education director of the Highlands Center for Natural History. She now fills her days wandering the wilds with her twin newborns and writing about their adventures.

15

News From the Wilds Prescott weather Average high temperature: 75.5 F, +/-4 Average low temperature: 41 F, +/-3.9 Record high temperature: 97 F, 1910 Record low temperature: 5 F, 1899 Average precipitation: 0.47”, +/-0.49 Record high precipitation: 2.35”, 1992 Record high snowfall: 6”, 1915 Record low precipitation: 0”, 21 percent of all years Max daily precipitation: 1.3”, May 10, 1992

IMAGE: Raven young hatch now, and parents trade off brooding them and finding food.

Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

By Ty Fitzmorris

In

the Central Highlands of Arizona we’re lucky enough to have not one, but two distinct flowering seasons per year. The first great flowering happens this month, fueled by melting snow and percolating water of the winter. The other great flowering is after the monsoon rains of mid-summer. Interestingly, many of our flowering plant species are unique to one or the other period. This bimodal flowering season is matched by peaks in activity in our animal species, as well.

Insect activity follows flowering very closely in most of the world, as insects either pollinate flowers or disperse the seeds that result from that pollination. The peak in bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian activity follows shortly after insects, as insects constitute much of the diets of these animals.

Because of this, the diversity of species and behaviors that can be seen by the observant naturalist

is nearly bewildering. More new groups of insects emerge day by day — look especially for the first damselflies of the season, flying near water like little graceful dragonflies, blue and iridescent red. New butterflies continue to appear, such as the metalmarks, snouts, checkerspots, skippers, and buckeyes. The most conspicuous of all, though, is the glorious Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly — the flagship of the season, with nearly a 5-inch wingspan.

In

drier years such as this, plant and animal activity seems to be a bit earlier than in wet years, and the peak of spring flowering moves toward the end of April and beginning of May. Overall spring activity may compress, with May starting with a moderate flowering, and ending with the cloudless skies and low humidity of the dry season. It’s during this time that fire danger is at its highest — especially when bark beetles have killed standing trees.

Fire has long been an integral part

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of the landscapes of western North America, and many of our ecosystems rely on it. Fire removes dead plant matter, recycles nutrients, and prevents species from taking over ecosystems through competition. In many ways, fire acts ecologically as a predator and fosters overall diversity and health. Many plants are able to withstand the kinds of low-intensity fires that the natural world experienced in historic and prehistoric times. Douglas Firs are insulated from the heat by thick bark, while the spiral seeds of Mountain Mahoganies actively burrow deep enough into the soil to avoid fires.

Other species are fire opportunists, such as Lodgepole Pines, whose seeds require fire to germinate, and Aspens, which aggressively expand their ranges after fires.

Unfortunately,

long-standing suppression of fire in the West has caused forests to reach dangerously high woody plant densi-

ties, while the introduction of nonnative grasses has provided larger amounts of flammable connectivity between trees, all of which has created a new, unstable fire regime to which our native species are largely unadapted.

Thanks, however, to some of the more ecologically sensitive forest management techniques, which reintroduce small, regular fires, and remove trees in a manner that minimizes damage to other species, some of our forests seem to be headed back toward their ancestral fire-based ways of being, which will benefit all of the creatures of the wilds. ***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and runs Peregrine Book Company and Raven Café as a sideline to his natural history pursuits.

Contact him at Ty@PeregrineBook Company.Com with questions or comments.

News From the Wilds, too A very brief survey of what’s happening in the wilds ...

By Ty Fitzmorris High mountains • Raven young begin hatching, and both parents begin around-the-clock nest brooding. During this time, pairs are rarely seen flying, though groups of young Ravens can still be seen together.

• Fendler’s Meadow Rue begins flowering.

• Fendler’s Ceanothus in full flower.

Visit: Maverick Mountain Trail, No. 65.

Ponderosa Pine forests • Whitetail Deer finish their spring molt, acquiring soft reddish to tan summer coats.

• Porcupines begin giving birth.

These remarkable mammals are rare in the Central Highlands, but sometimes can be found in high Aspen glades.

• Acorn Woodpecker young begin fledging and can sometimes be seen leaning out of nest holes in Ponderosa Pines. They might do this for weeks before attempting flight.

• Spikes of violet lupines (Lupinus spp.) and flocks of pink Woodhouse’s Phlox (Phlox speciosa) abound, drawing bumblebees and digger bees.

Visit: Miller Creek Trail, No. 367.

Pine-Oak woodlands • Oak species continue changing color — from red to orange, and eventually to a soft, light green — as they finish flowering.

• Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus) flowers abundantly. Look for hummingbirds visiting the flowers.

• Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Anna’s Hummingbirds begin mating and building nests of lichen and spiderwebs.

• Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) sets seed now. These spiral seeds are fire-adapted, and drill themselves into the ground deep enough to survive mild fires. They drop now in advance of the upcoming fire season.

Visit: Little Granite Mountain Trail, No. 37.

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Wolfberry (Lycium macrodon) flowering.

• Clark’s Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus clarkii), though furtive, can be seen as they conclude their mating season and prepare to lay eggs.

• Piñon Pines (Pinus edulis and P. monophylla) flower as they put on new growth on their branch-tips.

• Parry’s Agave flowers beginning in the lower elevations, drawing bats, hummingbirds, and bees to its red and yellow blooms.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

Grasslands • Pronghorn young are now over 2 months old and routinely can be seen with herds, running as fast as adults.

• Rattlesnake Weed (Euphorbia albomarginata) flowers in low, sprawling mats. This plant has been thought to be a snakebite remedy.

• Globemallow (Sphaeralcea spp.) flowering.

• Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula) flowers from now until August.

This is one 20-plus species of milkweeds native to Arizona, all of which provide crucial food sources for Monarch Butterflies, the populations of which have been declining rapidly.

Many milkweeds can be planted, which helps Monarch populations.

Visit MakeWayForMonarchs.Org for more info.

Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345.

ing now and beginning to grow their winged “helicopter” seeds.

• Warbler migration reaches its peak early in the month. Many exotic warblers have already been seen this year, including Olive, Townsend’s, Wilson’s, Nashville, Golden-crowned, and the Common Yellowthroat. Our resident species are nearly all returned now, as well, including Lucy’s, Yellow, Red-faced, and Orange-crowned Warblers, as well as the Yellow-breasted Chat and the rare Painted Redstart, all of which are beginning to nest and lay eggs.

Visit: Willow Lake Loop Trail, off of Willow Creek Road in Prescott.

Rivers, lakes, & streams • Fremont Cottonwoods release their fibrous, cottony seeds. Cotton can form drifts several inches thick, especially in areas of dense cottonwood such as the Granite Dells, Watson, and Willow lakes, or even Granite Creek in downtown Prescott.

• Young Beavers are born inside lodges or riverside dens.

• Boxelder Bugs (Boisea rubrolineata) abound in the creekside riparian galleries. These bugs feed on the sap of Boxelder trees (Acer negundo), which are concluding their flower-

Deserts/Chaparral • Many species of cactus flower, including pink and yellow prickly pears, hedgehog cacti, and, at the upper limit of the Sonoran Desert, Saguaros. Look for native solitary cactus bees visiting all of these flowers.

• Palo Verde trees continue to flower, along with Velvet Mesquite and various acacias, mimosas, and some species of yucca.

• Gila Monsters become active, searching for mammals and bird nests in dry desert uplands.

Visit: Agua Fria National Monument.

Butterflies such as this Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas) abound now. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

Night skies May 5: Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower. The peak of this moderate shower will be after midnight, with meteors appearing to radiate from the constellation Aquarius. The nearly first quarter moon will set before midnight leaving good viewing conditions.

May 10: Saturn at opposition.

The planet is exactly opposite the sun from Earth, making for optimal viewing conditions. A medium-sized telescope reveals Saturn’s rings and several moons.

May 14: Full moon at 12:16 p.m.

May 24: Possible new meteor shower. Astronomers predict a new meteor shower that could be brief but potentially intense — possibly with hundreds of meteors per hour.

This shower would be caused by the Earth entering the tail of a small comet named P/209 LINEAR. Some predictions have this shower as the most intense in many years.

May 28: New moon at 11:40 a.m.

17

Prescott Film Festival’s SCRIPT NOTES

Field trip: Sedona Film School fest

By Helen Stephenson

It’s

May, and that means it’s time for the Sedona Film School at Yavapai College’s annual student film fest.

Film students have been working long and hard this year honing their craft, absorbing information from faculty and staff, and preparing their thesis films.

Students write, produce, direct, edit, and do the sound on their films, each with a unique vision. This is the time for them to find their individual voice and practice putting that on film. (Or, 1s and 0s, actually.)

This year, thanks to the generosity of the Sedona International Film Festival, the event will be held at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre at 2030 W. State Route 89A, in Sedona. Ticket/ pass prices vary and are listed on the

Sedona International Film Festival website.

The fun starts at 6 p.m. Friday, May 23 with the Opening Night Gala at the Sedona Rouge Hotel. Come in formal attire, full costume or just “dress your head” from your favorite, (or least favorite!) film.

A

day of film screens begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 24. All student films from this year’s graduates screen at least twice. Narrative films include the post-apocalyptic thriller “Walter” from Lindsay Thorton, “Dark Shadows,” a horror film from Daryan Burguan, “Key Frame,” a tense mystery from Shane Kennedy, “Alone,” a psychological thriller from Stephen Laughran, “The Scientist,” a sci-fi thriller from Sam Worseldine, “Roommate Wanted,” a dark comedy with a twist from Matt Taylor and “Wishing: A Musical” from the ambitious JC Lawler.

There are two documentary of-

ferings, too. Lee Sullivan has been a true world traveler as he worked to bring his doc, “Who Got the Ball Rolling?: Did Africans Discover California?” to the Sedona Film School Film Fest. And from Alexander (AJ) Meidlinger comes “Rated V for Violence,” a documentary about video games and their effects on society.

At 7 p.m. that Saturday, enjoy a special screening of “Wrenched” from Sedona Film School alumna ML Lincoln. “Wrenched” captures the spirit of writer/environmental activist Edward Abbey and his friends who pioneered “monkeywrenching,” a radical system bent on “wrenching the system.” The film stars Robert Redford, Edward Abbey, and Dave Foreman.

Once

again at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 25, films begin screening all day with special screenings of Sedona Film School alumna Shaeri Richards’s “Moving from Emptiness: The Life and Art of a Zen Dude.” The film asks the question, “Where does creativity come from?” Zen calligraphic painter Alok Hsu Kwang-han proposes that it arises from emptiness, from that silent space that houses the intelligence prior to thought.

On Sunday evening, the festival features the documentary “Pursuing the Void” from Sedona Film School alumnus Taylor Camarot. The film describes how “everyone in filmmaking has a void and they long to discover what’s there.” The documentary “follows six college students

Sedona Film School fest poster. Courtesy image. who have dreams and aspirations of becoming filmmakers.”

The awards ceremony takes place immediately after the screening.

Visit SedonaFilmSchool.Com for more info. ***** Helen Stephenson is the founder and executive director of the Prescott Film Festival and the director of the Sedona Film School at Yavapai College (interim). She collects old hats and Mary Poppins memorabilia, When she’s not helping film school students, watching films, or marketing the fest, she’s writing articles, screenplays, and press releases, and enjoying beautiful Arizona sunrises.

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ArizonaMedicalMarijuanaClinic.com �� • FEATURE • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Bird Watching (No, The Other Kind)

BIG plan(e)s

A Convair B-36 Peacemaker flies against a clear sky.

Photo by U.S. Air Force, public domain.

By Matt Dean

In

the early post-World War II years, humanity was reeling from the most destructive conflict ever. As Europe and Japan picked up the rubble the Soviets and Americans were escalating militarization to the point of possible annihilation. One of the early weapons leading down the harrowing path of mutually assured destruction was America’s Convair B-36 Peacemaker.

Truly the original BUFF: Big Ugly Fat Fellow (or however you like your acronym Fs), the B-36 was nearly as long as a 15-story building and had a wingspan the height of 21-story building. The square footage of the wings was twice the size of two modern average single family homes. There were six aft facing propeller driven engines turning and four jet engines burning. The bomber weighed move than 166,000 pounds sans bombs.

Essentially, the B-36 was a 162-foot-long tube with giant fins sticking out of it. The Ugly comes from the ungainly cockpit canopy hump that bulges like a boil out of the smooth fuselage near the nose of the plane.

The

purpose of the Peacemaker’s size and power was to achieve a nautical range of 10,000 miles so that it could drop atomic bombs on the Soviet Union if need be. The origi-

nal proposal for the B-36 came out of U.S fears early in World War II that Great Britain would fall to Germany and subsequently an intercontinental bomber would be needed to fly missions from North America to Europe. Shelved after the British fended off the Nazis, the need for an intercontinental range bomber did not resurface until the deterrent fueled arms race began.

The B-36 Peacemaker was only in service from 1949-1959 before it was replaced by the venerable, still-in-service B-52 Stratofortress.

If

you want to see just how awesome the size of a Peacemaker is visit the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson.

Put your 3-year-old next to the landing gear and then walk out about 20 yards and take a picture. Then play “find your 3-yearold in this picture” with your friends.

If you want to impress your wife, find a copy of the 1955

Jimmy Stewart film “Strategic Air Command,” which features gratuitous black-and-white footage of the Peacemaker on duty. ***** Matt Dean is a Prescott native and a teacher for Prescott High School’s online program who enjoys spending time with his family and walks with the dogs. Contact him at Matt.Dean@ PrescottSchools.Com.

Be ire vigilant If you see it, report it.

Call 911.

Granite Mountain Outtitters 320 W. Gurley | Prescott 928-776-4949

�ENSESMAG.COM • MAY ���� • FEATURE • ��

Caught in a hurricane while sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in 1889, a clipper ship called Ananuac began to come apart at the seams and sink. Shortly after the captain decided to abandon ship, the vessel quit taking on water, and the crew safely sailed her home.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... The ship was spared because an unusual amount of seaweed was sucked into the leaks and plugged the holes.

Seemingly lowly rodents, like mice and rats, have left strident marks in human history. They have been the source of disease, plague, crop failures, and parasites. Still, in some cultures they’ve been revered. Statues of mice were even erected in temples to Apollo.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... Mice, arriving by the tens of thousands actually overran a camp of an invading Crete army near Troy, ate all the leather straps of shields and consumed all the bowstrings. Being completely disarmed, the Cretans had no choice but to strike a peace agreement with Hamaxitus. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian. Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

�� • FEATURE • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Holistic Fitness

By Lauren Antrosiglio

So,

you’re in the market for protein powders. A quick walk down the protein powder isle of a vitamin store reveals a seemingly endless array of products, all of which claim to be The Best.

Personally, I use a combination of whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate, but for many reasons — including lactose intolerance and a vegan diet — whey protein isn’t the go-to protein powder for many.

For that reason, I’ve put together a chart that includes the facts about protein powders on the market today so you can make an educated decision about which one is right for you.

Here’s an explanation of terms: BV Short for “Biological Value,” BV is the standard used to measure the amount of protein that is bioavalable — that is, protein that can be assimilated and used by the body. BV also takes into account the amount of essential amino acids (necessary substances that our bodies can’t produce on their own) in any protein.

The greater the amount of essential amino acids, the higher the BV. PDCAAS Short for Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, PDCAAS is the standard used by the World Health Organization to measure protein usability. This score focuses more acutely on the amino acids present in the protein. The highest score is one.

Whey protein isolate Whey protein is created when proteins are isolated from whey, which is a byproduct of the production of cheese. In whey protein isolate, there is a long filtering of the isolate as

Priming for protein power well as the ion-exchange chromotography method of processing to separate the protein. Isolate powder is usually about 90 percent protein, which is excellent. Whey protein isolate is considered the gold standard of protein powders because of its high bioavailability and the fact that it is loaded with BCAAs (Branched Chain Amino Acids, amino acids vital to the muscle building process) as well as other amino acids.

Whey protein concentrate Made through diafiltration and ultra-filtration methods, whey protein concentrate is the “next best thing” to whey protein isolate. Chock full of amino acids and with the powders at 70-80 percent protein, whey protein concentrate is fast digesting and fairly cost effective.

Casein protein Casein protein powders are a favorite of bodybuilders and fitness buffs because they’re a slow-digesting protein that steadily releases amino acids for a period of hours. As such, they’re great supplements before you turn in for the night. Casein is derived from milk.

Egg white protein A great source of bioavailable protein, egg white protein powder provides a complete set of essential amino acids. However, avoid it if you have an egg allergy. Also, the taste isn’t necessarily great.

Rice protein Brown rice protein isn’t as easily digestible as many other proteins but for those who are highly lactose intolerant (or who are vegans), it’s an okay choice. Note, however, that all essential amino acids aren’t present.

Pea protein All essential aminos are present in pea protein, albeit in very small amounts. Pea protein also has a medium BV score, which means that the small amount of protein in the powder results in an even smaller amount of absorbed protein. You can get quality protein from pea protein powder, but it’ll take a lot of protein — not to mention that veggie protein powder can break your bank.

Chart by Lauren Antrosiglio.

Soy protein Soy is a complete protein and has all essential amino acids. Soy is also rich in glutamine and arginine, important muscle-supportive aminos.

The isoflavones in soy protein have an estrogen-like effect on the body, which has many bodybuilders worried how it affects testosterone levels. However, “A recently published meta-analysis that examined 15 placebo-controlled studies found that neither soy protein nor isoflavone intake had any significant effect on testosterone, free androgen index, free testosterone or sex-hormone binding globulin,” according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Hemp protein Hemp protein is a complete protein, but the amounts of essential amino acids are insufficient in the small doses of one powder serving.

As with pea protein, you’d have to consume quite a bit of hemp protein powder to absorb enough to efficiently support protein synthesis. ***** Lauren Antrosiglio is an ASUdegreed personal trainer in Prescott who specializes in weight loss, increasing muscle mass, rehabilitative fitness, functional exercise, and senior fitness. Contact her at Info@ PrescottPersonalTraining.Com.

5ENSESMAG.COM • MAY 2014 • COLUMN • 21

A group of people gather to hear a Prescott Jazz Summit performance at noon on the Yavapai County Courthouse Square. Photo by Marvin Ross Photography.

By Mike Vax

Mike’s Musical Musings

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�� • COLUMN • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

This is my 10th column for 5enses, and I’m happy to be writing about things I believe in, things that I love, and things that concern me in the music business. Having said that ...

I believe that some of my columns might not agree with every reader’s views on music and the music business. I guess I thought that I would’ve heard from some people who’ve read one or more of my columns and disagreed with some of my beliefs and conclusions. But I haven’t heard from anyone at all.

I know that I write a lot about jazz music and jazz education, and that the bulk of music fans in the Prescott area are not jazz or even classical listeners. This is the same nation-wide. If you add together all the jazz and classical recordings sold each year, the number accounts for only a small percentage of sales.

So, to get a two-way conversation going, I’m asking you, the readers of this month’s column, five easy questions in the hopes you might contact me with your thoughts.

1. Considering the following genres of music, in what order would you

rank them in regards to your preference? Jazz, classical, big band, top 40, pop, classic rock, modern rock, country, folk, and rap. Add something else if you want.

2. How often do you attend live music performances or concerts?

3. Where do you go to hear live music? (Examples: night clubs, restaurants, concert halls, dances.)

4. Do you attend music festivals?

If so, which ones?

5. Are you willing to pay a reasonable entrance fee to hear your favorite musicians?

I’d love to hear from you. If you’d take a few minutes to put together your thoughts and email them to me at VaxTrpts@AOL.Com, I’d be grateful. I’ll be happy to make a compilation of answers and share some results, which could be of help to those of us in the music business, as well as our fans. This would also be of great value to those of us, like those in the Prescott Jazz Summit, who put on events throughout the year. Thanks in advance. ***** Mike Vax is a Prescott-based jazz musician and educator. As his column progresses, he’d love to hear your questions, comments, and ideas for future columns. Contact him via his website, MikeVax.Net or at VaxTrpts@AOL.Com.

... gotta make a livin’ he’s a Louisiana Man

MARSH DEBUT SINGLE

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Northern Arizona Tour Comes To Prescott This Fall Check www.themarshexperience.com soon for ticketing information

Diagnosis: Technology

Turn on, tune in, cut cord Tune your TV in to the tech revolution

By Paolo Chlebecek

Is

your TV dumb? Time to smarten it up.

Back in my day, we had three stations and we liked it that way. Well, maybe not three, but it was very few compared to the plethora of choices available today. But how can we decide what to watch or even what to watch it with?

Getting information has become so easy that it’s easy to take options for granted. Recently, the vie for your eyeballs has become an outright war.

In fact, according to Business Insider, a leading trend evaluator, “Nearly 5 million cable TV subscribers have gone elsewhere in the last five years.” It looks like this trend will continue.

If you want to cut the cord, how can you do it?

There

are many choices to replace your cable or satellite provider, but one of my favorites is the Roku Streaming Player (aka Roku box). These smart little cubes, not much bigger than a deck of cards, have been pushing out the fun since May of 2011. They even have a “Streaming Stick” that fits directly in the

HDMI port of your TV. Roku lets you add many channels — some are even free. Naturally, they offer Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon as standards, but there’s also an incredible amount of entertainment, sports, and even games.

Another option is Apple TV. With well over 20 million units sold already, it surely is a popular option many are willing to try. It has similar specs to the Roku, but offers that homogenous look many Apple users enjoy.

Google’s Chromecast has the unique ability to send whatever you’re watching from your tablet, smartphone, or even computer through the device to your TV. I have it, and I really like it.

Amazon just released its own set-top box called Fire. This little gem has a lot of horsepower compared to most other options. We have yet to see if it’ll burn up the competition, though.

Netgear, Visio, and Western Digital also have their own set-top boxes that can make your dumb TV a college grad. Most have the option to stream pictures and video from your computer or media hub to your one-eyed monster with just a few clicks.

Let’s not forget all of the gaming consoles that also offer more bang for your buck. There’s Microsoft’s Xbox, the Sony PlayStation, and the Nintendo Wii. They all offer entertainment options but are designed as game machines, first and foremost.

As

news and entertainment alternatives continue growing, we can finally escape the grasp of cable and satellite bills. But, keep in mind, ALL options require a high-speed internet connection. You need at least a 2-3 mbps to allow smooth streaming. The figure’s even higher when streaming High Definition shows. Also, channels like Netflix and Amazon still require individual subscriptions.

You might not be able to cut the cord just yet. ***** Paolo Chlebecek is founder and owner of PaoloTek, which he started in 2003. He enjoys technology of all kinds and, in his spare time, likes to go on adventures with his wife and four-legged children. Contact him at Paolo@PaoloTek.Com.

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�� • FEATURE • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Gene Twaronite’s The Absurd Naturalist

By Gene Twaronite A writer must follow the truth wherever it might lead, even at the risk of losing self-respect. It was never my intention to write about this subject, but it is one that cannot be ignored. I speak here of a simple unit of speech that can never be spoken in polite company. Yet, it is a playful word that makes me smile whenever I say it.

Ripping off the tongue in the same delightful way it emanates, it is much more fun to pronounce than other words of harsher sound and meaning that still intrude upon polite conversations.

While it never made it into George Carlin’s famous “Seven Dirty Words” list, the word is still considered vulgar by Webster’s. It refers to the expulsion through the anus of intestinal gas or flatus. (Flatus, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable to say in most social gatherings, though you don’t hear it a lot.)

I find it curious that a word, whose alternate definition — “to break wind” — sounds almost poetic, could ever be labeled vulgar.

Of course, the unspeakable readily becomes the butt of jokes. As Carlin noted, “Anything we all do — and never talk about — is funny.” Such jokes pale in comparison, however, to the actual physical process. Nothing can so up end a discussion and set people to tittering as the unexpected, noisome release of a little flatus. A former teacher colleague used to deal with this problem whenever it erupted among his seventh grade students (who, as a group, are particularly susceptible to fits of tittering and releases of flatus) by stating in a casual voice: “What’s the big deal? It’s only air!”

But as we all know, this is simply not the case.

Not-so-ghastly emanations The

air we breathe today is composed primarily of nitrogen and oxygen, with lesser amounts of argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. Billions of years ago, however, the Earth’s atmosphere more closely resembled that mixture of gases — hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide — produced in our bowels as a result of bacterial decomposition. Presumably, if there had been anyone around to pass judgment on such matters, the expulsion of this flatus would not have been considered unspeakable. No more so than the release of marsh gas that bubbles up without so much as a titter from the rotting vegetation of countless ponds and lakes.

But human bottoms are not supposed to bubble like the rest of nature, at least not in public. We humans have never been comfortable with this rotting business. We prefer not to acknowledge any connection between the foods we put in our mouths and those horrid, gas-producing beasties that lurk within our guts. Far better to ignore the incessant whispering of a darker, cruder nature hidden from our view.

I have always suspected that this is what inspired the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft to create one of his most loathsome supernatural monsters, Hastur the Unspeakable. An elemental creature of the air, it was always breaking out unexpectedly upon this sane, proper world of ours with most regrettable consequences.

Like death and taxes, flatulence is impossible to avoid. Some might try avoiding foods high in indigestible cellulose, such as cabbage, beans, wholegrain products, and many fruits and vegetables, which result in large amounts of hydrogen being generated in the intestines. Yet, many doctors now recommend high-fiber foods to help prevent colon and rectal cancer, diverticulosis, and even constipation. We might finally have to admit that, in essence, our species is still tied to crude chemical and biological processes, and that which we now call unspeakable by any another name would smell as sweet. ©Gene Twaronite 2014 ***** Gene Twaronite’s writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines.

He is the author of “The Family That Wasn’t,” “My Vacation in Hell,” and “Dragon Daily News.”

Follow Gene at The TwaroniteZone.Com.

Images via All-Free-Download.Com and public domain. Illustration by 5enses.

Cosmic

monsters aside, a little flatus must form in every mortal being.

When the level becomes excessive, the condition is referred to as flatulence. Some of us, because of heredity or diet, can produce quantities of gas bordering on the supernatural.

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy mentions one study that “noted a patient with daily flatus frequency as high as 141, including 70 passages in one four-hour period.”

Hastur, I presume?

�ENSESMAG.COM • MAY ���� • COLUMN • ��

Prescott Pup Crawl What: Second annual Prescott Pup Crawl, sponsored by Budweiser When: 4-10 p.m. Saturday, May 17 (register online or 3 p.m. day of event) Where: Starts at The Beastro, 117 N. McCormick St., Prescott (one block north of Sharlot Hall Museum) Worth: $10 donation Why: Help animals in need. Help save the Grand Canyon Hiking Dogs.

Web: www.PrescottPupCrawl.org What else: Bring your pooch. Get a VIP badge and lanyard good for discounts at shops, bars, and places on the crawl along with FREE admission to the afterparty with live music and two outdoor bars.

Little Red What: Little Red, a new art gallery in McCormick Arts District featuring images from Back Alley Italia When: Noon-7p.m.-ish Saturdays & Sundays, May 9-30 Where: 121 N. McCormick St., Prescott (one block north of Sharlot Hall Museum) Why: Help animals in need, adorn your walls, & get Italian fine art as gifts for friends.

What else: Wine and baked goods available, too.

The Beastro 117 N. McCormick St., Prescott 928-227-2796 www.TheBeastro.org

�� • FEATURE • MAY ���� • �ENSESMAG.COM

Huckeba Art Gallery

from Ancient

227 W. Gurley St. Prescott, AZ 86301 928-445-3848

www.huckeba-art-quest.com charlesnjill@yahoo.com

to Abstract

The Birthplace of Chromatextures